Teagues Fight now facing tougher

EDMONTON, Alberta - An intensely competitive field of five has assembled for Sunday's $50,000 Western Canada here at Northlands Park.

Carrying high weight of 121 pounds in the 6 1/2-furlong handicap for 3-year-olds will be Teagues Fight, owned by Rocky Mountain Turf Club Stable and Don Gibb.

An Alberta-bred, Teagues Fight has looked very good this fall taking apart the competition in restricted stakes races.

In early September, Teagues Fight, trained by Doug MacDonald, took the Sales Stakes for 3-year-olds by two lengths before going on to a 5 3/4-length victory in the Beaufort.

In Sunday's race, however, Teagues Fight will not face any Alberta-breds or Alberta sales graduates. Instead, the competition includes three Kentucky-breds and one Ontario-bred.

The Ontario-bred is Bell n' Gone. An Alberta champion at 2, Bell n' Gone returned from a disappointing Canadian Derby effort in mid-September to notch his first victory of the season against allowance rivals going one mile.

Before the Derby, Bell n' Gone had shown the same steady form that he displayed last year, finishing third in the President's and Count Lathum and second in the Alberta Derby and Ky Alta.

The Kentucky-breds are Tiger Energy, sporting consecutive allowance wins coming into the race; British Columbia invader Stole Another; and Tejano Trouble, a winner of three straight here during the summer.